How We Organize Our Toddler’s Room
In the weeks before Benji was born, instead of reading parenting or birthing books, I was looking for guidance on how to organize diaper bags and nursery dressers (we all cope in our own ways, right?).
In retrospect, I could have done a bit more reading and research on what to expect from the birth, but at the time I figured, “that’s what the classes are for, right?”
Well, now we’ve survived two years and I’ve learned a few things about organizing kids’ rooms that I’m happy to share today.
Let’s start with the basics of any nursery:
DIAPERS: Although we are, thankfully, nearing the end of our diaper days, we have a three part system in Benji’s room for diapers.
Diapers in the dresser drawer for immediate access during changes.
Diapers in the hanging organizer in his closet (Split out by style/purpose so it’s easy to find swim diapers and night time diapers, etc).
Packaged diapers in the shelf at the top of his closet.
The benefits of this system are that you keep diapers in multiple easy to access locations and it’s easy to see how many you have left.
TOYS: We rotate Benji’s toys between this Ikea Kallax in his closet and one in the living room. If the living room shelves get too full or he stops getting out his own toys and starts coming to us for play, then I figure it’s time to rotate.
I’m pretty sure we’ve passed the time where I need to rotate because he keeps asking to go to his room to play with his toys. There’s nothing wrong with this (especially if you live in a one-story home), but I usually try to have the toys he’s most interested in where we all hang out, instead of upstairs in his room where he can’t/won’t play alone. I try to prioritize the toys in the living room so that those are the freshest. An important lesson we’ve learned is that more toys do not equal more fun. Therefore… Purge. Often.
When things start feeling a little full, it’s time to purge. A good litmus test that I use for his toys is if I have to reach behind toys to get to other toys then it’s probably time to do some clearing out.
I aim to keep Benji’s toys easily accessible to him, and if he has to move stuff to get to a toy, then that toy is no longer easily accessible for a two year-old and it’s a cue to me that it’s time to purge (though let’s be real, it’s usually another month or so before I get around to it).
When Benji was really little (10 months and under), we used to use the lidded basket in his room (see below pic) for toys that were out of rotation. But as he’s grown, so has the number and size of his toys, so now we use that basket for dress up.
Side note: Most of his toys are from LovEvery and I highly recommend it, especially for parents who are anxious like me and feel the need to research what toys are developmentally appropriate for their little one’s current age/stage.
BOOKS: Let me start by saying that I don’t recommend this bookcase for kids. It’s great for displaying things, but without solid/closed sides, it’s difficult to use it as a bookcase because books fall off the sides if you’re not careful.
We used to keep his favorite books in two baskets next to the chair for easy access during the bedtime routine and the rest on the shelves, but recently, he’s really enjoyed actually picking out books from the bookshelves (which means he completely ignores any books outside of the bookshelves).
We (and by we, I mean me) were always very careful to keep the board books accessible and the books with paper pages out of his reach, but again, that’s changing. His current favorite books (Llama Llama Mad at Mama and Green Eggs and Ham, if you’re wondering) happen to have paper pages, so I’m starting to let them mingle together.
The ladies of The Home Edit, current cultural organizing gurus, advise parents and teachers to organize books by color because it’s easier for kids to put things back by color. Well, Benji doesn’t put ANY books back so the ROYGBIV organization is just for me (and yes, it does take time, probably too much time, but it makes me happy).
CLOTHES:
Benji’s drawers (and his room and his whole life) are far more organized and orderly than my own drawers, and that’s the way I like it. Okay, realistically I’d love it if my own room and drawers (and life) were as organized as his, but if I had to pick, I’d keep it this way because kids bring their own chaos and the more orderly you can make the world around them (and you), the easier it is to remain calm (and sane) in the midst of that chaos.
Let’s talk Benji’s drawers: These are glorious. Before he was born, I bought drawer organizers for him and all his tiny, adorable clothes and it was such a good investment. I don’t think these particular ones are available anymore but honestly, drawer dividers or other organizers would work just as well.
Top Left Drawer: Wipes, Socks, Underwear, Diapers, and Cream.
Top Right Drawer: Long Sleeve Shirts (currently out of season) and Short Sleeve Shirts
Left Middle Drawer: Jammies! Footies, Oversized Shirts, and Sets.
Right Middle Drawer: Shorts (in season) and Pants.
Bottom Left Drawer: Sheets (We almost always use QuickZip sheets, but these fitted sheets on the left are backups and the bubbly one in the back is a backup mattress protector). Currently we have one QuickZip sheet in reserve, one on the crib mattress, and one in the wash.
Bottom Right Drawer: Changing Pad Covers and Swaddle Blankets (Since he’s two, we obviously don’t use the swaddle blankets anymore, but I haven’t been able to let go of these last few yet).
One of my favorite hacks for Benji’s clothes is to keep two baskets in Benji’s closet. Below I’ve pulled them forward a bit to make it easier to see what’s in them. The one on the right is for clothes he hasn’t grown into (usually filled with hand-me-downs from friends) and the one on the left is for clothes he’s grown out of. Before we had the baskets, my system mostly consisted of an overflowing grocery bag of clothes he’d grown out of and tubs of hand-me-downs I hadn’t gone through. I highly recommend this system over the my previous one.
Seasonal Items: As you probably guessed by the name, these are things that we only need for the season like swimwear during the summer and hats and mittens during the winter. Right now, Benji’s swim stuff is in the plastic tub in the bottom shelf of his hanging closet organizer. Once swim lessons and SoCal beach season is over, we’ll switch that out for the tub with winter gear (currently on the top shelf of his closet).
Here are a few other things we’ve picked up along the way that help us keep Benji’s room organized:
Be prepared for your needs to shift. In case you couldn’t tell by the number of times I said “we used to _____, but now we _____,” things with little kids are constantly changing because THEY are constantly changing.
Here’s another example: When he was a newborn, I tried keeping all the diaper changing supplies in his drawer, but ultimately found it was easier to keep some of them (e.g. creams, wipes, etc) on top of the dresser next to the changing pad. That is until recently when he got big enough to kick those items off the table during a change, so back into the drawer they went!
Have a wish list you can share with family/friends. If someone asks what Benji likes or what would be a good gift, we send them the link to his Amazon wishlist. I add toys to it with the Chrome Amazon plug-in whenever I see something online that I want to buy him or that I think would be fun. I try to put it on the list instead of buying it to avoid spoiling him and inundating our home with waaaaay too many toys. Oh, and to avoid spending ALL of our money on toys.
By keeping the list stocked with interesting books/toys/clothes, etc for people to buy him, we get to have a say in what comes in to our home.
Just because it was a gift, doesn’t mean you need to keep it. ALERT: This is not limited to stuff for your kids. Sticking with this philosophy is crucial to keeping your home a pleasant space that isn’t overrun with things you neither need nor want.
We aim to keep most of our toys wood and battery free (all of you rolling your eyes right now, I see you and, yes, I’m aware that I sound like the bougiest parent). I could go on about our parenting philosophy (RIE) and toys that inspire passive vs active play, but this isn’t a mommy blog, so let’s skip to the point and just say that it’s okay to have preferences for the types of things that come into your home. I will add that if we buy/receive a toy that Benji loves and it takes batteries, we just don’t put in the batteries. Let’s be real, a two year-old does not need a working megaphone to play firefighter.